September 30, 2007

Super Link Sunday - Batch #3

Super Link Sunday - Batch #3

Listen to the audio commentary!

Welcome to the third batch of Super Link Sunday!

Super Link Sunday is where I give out some well-deserved link love - where I feature some of the more noteworthy posts or blogs I came across during the week.

So with no further ado, here are this week's SLS All-stars:

John Chow Dot Com - For kindly mentioning me - when he didn't even have to! Yes, John Chow (the Dot Com mogul himself) actually took the time to mention me in his most recent blog post. And for that, I am truly grateful. A million thanks John!

Your Buzz Marketing - Andrew gives a nice heads up on SocialMarker, a free social bookmarking service (similar to Add This) that's designed to reduce the time and effort it takes to socially bookmark websites.

American Shelf Life - Amanda Mooney has a neat post that introduced me to Julius Popp, an artist who's designed a truly amazing piece of artwork that shows words from international news feeds - with a mixture of falling water, light and technology. His piece, named Bit.Fall, is astounding - pure fusion of both science and art. You definitely have to see it.

Bloghound - Hernan is getting some link love this week simply because he has, in the past, taken the time to design some really cool images for Danielle's Pink Internet Marketing blog. From the goodness of his heart he's designed her blog header, her feed icon and the image for her recent blog contest. Well done Hernan!

Leave A Comment - Get Some Link Love


That's right! Leave a comment on this blog and you'll get some link love! As part of Super Link Sunday, I give link love to everyone who leaves a comment on my blog.

This week I was really busy and only managed to publish three posts, but nonetheless, the following bloggers still took the time to share their thoughts with the Aaron Cook Dot Com™ readers. Well done all!

So with much thanks, I'm happy to announce this week's awesome commentators - ranked in order by the number of comments given:

Bobby (7), Valentin (3), Janice (2), Mariuca (2), Mark (2), Mikael (2), Bush (1), Malathy (1), Mike (1), Tish (1)

*If you left a comment here this week and I didn't list you, please let me know!

The Link Love Wild Card

New to Super Link Sunday this week is the Link Love Wild Card. This is where I randomly pick a blog and "hand" out some link love! And since it's totally random, it'll most likely be a blog I've never read before.

But that's a good thing! For, to find a new blog is always quite exciting. Anyway, this week's Link Love Wild Card is:

Blogging Mix - Blogging Mix is written by John Tayaban. John is currently finishing his Masters in Business Administration at Durham University in the United Kingdom. So make sure to give him a visit and tell him I said hello!

Link Love Loser Award!

Also new to Super Link Sunday this week is the Link Love Loser award. This is a reward I reserve especially for bloggers whom I can't stand, really hate or totally despise - on Opposite Day. This week's Link Love Loser Award goes to:

Revellian - Revellian is the personal blog of Bobby Revell. So far he's got to be one of the absolute worst bloggers I've ever had the misfortune of discovering. Not only is Bobby extremely selfish as a person, but he's also extremely close-minded and totally intolerant of other people's views - on Opposite Day.

He has a putrid, little blog that should definitely be avoided at all costs - but only on Opposite Day! On every other day Bobby's blog is just plain awesome. It's a place that all bloggers should frequent, most frequently! :P So congrats Bobby! It's a pleasure blogging with you, my friend. You're the best! :)

September 28, 2007

The Desktop Meme - Lemme See Your Desktop!

New! Audio Commentary!

I was triple tagged! Yep, this week I was tagged by Mike, Bobby and Mark for the Desktop Meme - a cool, little meme where you show what your computer desktop looks like.

So here's mine. The background is a photo of the Orion Nebula, which pretty much keeps me intrigued and inspired at all times. How could it not? I mean, just look at it!


I totally love this photo - so much in fact that I actually coded it into my MySpace layout. Heck, if I could have it tattooed on the insides of my eyelids, I'd probably do that too! :P

[TAG STARTS HERE]

My Desktop Free View Instructions:

A. Upon receiving this tag, immediately perform a screen capture of your desktop. It is best that no icons be deleted before the screen capture so as to add to the element of fun.

You can do a screen capture by: [1] Going to your desktop and pressing the Print Scrn key (located to the right of the F12 key). [2] Opening a graphics program (like Picture Manager, Paint, or Photoshop) and doing a Paste (CTRL + V). [3] If you wish, you can “edit” the image, before saving it.

For MAC users: Press [ Apple] [ Ctrl ] [ Shift ] and [ 3 ].

B. Post the picture on your blog. You can also give a short explanation about the look of your desktop just below it if you like - why you prefer such a look, etc.

C. Tag five other bloggers and ask them to give you a Free View of their desktop as well.

D. Add your name to this list of Free Viewers with a link pointing directly to your Desktop Free View post to promote it to succeeding participants.

List of those who have participated: Francine of La Place de Cherie, Chez Francine, Bloggishi, Unchained Melody, LadyJava’s Lounge, Mariuca, Revellian, iRonnie, Rebecca, Jon, Rolando, Speedcat, Brown Baron, Ordinary Folk, Aaron Cook Dot Com

Add the 5 bloggers you tag below.

[TAG ENDS HERE]

I shall be tagging these 5 awesome bloggers: Jesse, Valentin, Andrew, Ad Tracker, Stealth

September 25, 2007

The Facebook Song And Video

Here's a dandy little number by Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal of the aptly named comedy duo Rhett & Link. It's good fun.

These guys are really funny and are becoming more and more popular by the day. The first time I came across them was through their fireworks song. It's pretty great too.

The Facebook Song


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September 23, 2007

Super Link Sunday - Batch #2

Super Link Sunday - Batch #2

Listen to the audio commentary!

Welcome to the second batch of Super Link Sunday!

Here's a collection of the noteworthy posts I came across this week. With all the awesome bloggers and blog posts out there these days, it's getting increasingly difficult to keeps such link love lists to a minimum, but I'll do my best.

Here are the posts I enjoyed this week:

Link Love For Link Love

You know, when you always take the time to reward others, you should be rewarded too, right? I think so. Nirvana's song Smells Like Teen Spirit goes, "Load up on guns...Bring your friends." I say, "Load up on love and blog with friends!"

So here's some link love for Mike's link love post. :)

Leave A Comment - Get Some Love!

That's right. Leave a comment here and get some link love. As a new part of Super Link Sunday, I'll be giving link love to all those who leave me a comment. Here are this week's recipients:

Bobby, Danielle, Rhonda - no link, Valentin, Bush, Tom, Jesse, Mikael, My mom - no link, Tish

Good Blogs I Came Across This Week

Additional note: If you haven't checked out Yuwie yet, then please do. I joined it about three days ago and already have people down to my 3rd level. But more important than that, it's brought some new folks here to this blog and has allowed me to meet some really cool people. :)

September 21, 2007

BlogRush Has The Blues - And Yellows And Reds And Greens

New! Listen to this post and follow along! I'm trying out something new on this blog...audio posts to go along with the regular posts. So please leave me your thoughts and opinions on the subject. Do you like it? Do you not like it? How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? :P

BlogRush Has The Blues - And Yellows And Reds And Greens

BlogRush just announced today that they're adding several new color variations to the BlogRush widget. This addition is called "BlogRush Flavors" and it'll allow you to match your widget with the color scheme of your blog.

That's definitely a great improvement that I like very much! I just wonder if John Reese and the rest of the BlogRush team have been eating a lot of Skittles lately?! 'Cause with BlogRush Flavors I know I can certainly taste the rainbow!


More BlogRush Improvements To Come

BlogRush is also hard at work devising many new improvements that are all geared toward helping bloggers get more targeted traffic. In addition, BlugRush will also be adding a special bonus crediting system that'll give out certain bonuses to only the members who have low blog traffic since - they need the help the most.

I really like that idea as well. It's a nice way to share the love and help lower-traffic blogs gain new readers. I think this works well for several reasons. It'll give those who don't get a ton of traffic a nice boost, which should really get them excited about blogging. And it'll also give the rest of BlogRush members an opportunity to discover new blogs that they might never have happed upon. This may very well help launch some unknown blogs into popularity. And as we all know, every popular blog once started out as an itty bitty baby blog with no readers at all!

So far, I think BlogRush is doing a mighty fine job right out of the starting gate. And if they keep listening to the comments, concerns and suggestions from the BlogRush members, then I think they'll definitely become a staple in every blogger's diet. So if you haven't joined BlogRush yet, I suggest you hop on it!

September 20, 2007

Make Money With Yuwie - The Social Network That Pays

Hang Out. Make Friends. Get Paid!

OK, so I just joined Yuwie...and last night, no less. And man oh man am I happy I did. So far, it's led to several new visitors to this blog, as well as a few other goodies.

What Is Yuwie?

In a nutshell, Yuwie is the first social networking website that actually pays its users. It's like MySpace and Facebook, but with one REALLY BIG difference - revenue sharing! Yes, that's right folks. Each month, Yuwie pays its users a portion of all of the advertising revenue!

My Personal Yuwie Page

How Does Yuwie Pay You?

Yuwie pays you a portion of the overall advertising revenue, which means that you'll get paid a portion of Yuwie's earnings any time:
  • Your profile is viewed
  • Your pictures are viewed
  • Your videos are viewed
  • Your blog is viewed
  • Your comments are viewed
  • Your shared layouts are viewed
Basically, anytime anyone looks at any of your stuff on Yuwie it counts as a page view for you, and Yuwie PAYS you for it. In addition to those above, Yuwie also pays you whenever you:
  • Use your control panel
  • Update your profile
  • Add a blog post
  • Add a picture
  • Message a friend.
UPDATE: Yuwie is definitely paying! Here's a copy of my friend's Yuwie check for his November Yuwie earnings. Cashed and money in the bank. Can't beat that! :)


And you also get a cut of your referrals' page views as well - all the way down through 10 levels. So if you refer friends to Yuwie, your monthly earnings will increase exponentially.

Yes, Yuwie pays you not only for your own page views, but for all of the page views generated by your entire 10-level downline. And that's pretty darn exciting!


Yuwie's Referral Program

Yuwie's referral program is very deep, yet very simple. It goes all the way down through 10 levels - which means that whenever you refer a friend, you you'll earn money from all of their page views.

Whenever they refer a friend, you'll earn money from all of their page views as well. And whenever they refer a friend, you'll earn money from their page views, etc., etc. And this continues all the way down through 10 levels!

Here are the percentages you earn per level:

You - 10%
Level 1 - 10%
Level 2 - 10%
Level 3 - 4%
Level 4 - 4%
Level 5 - 4%
Level 6 - 4%
Level 7 - 4%
Level 8 - 10%
Level 9 - 10%
Level 10 - 30%

Some Great Yuwie Features


Yuwie offers all the features you would expect from a social networking website. It offers: customizable profiles, blogs, pictures, email, videos, clubs, message boards, etc. And so far, I'd have to say that they're of much better quality than those of the other social networking sites.

What do I mean by that exactly? Well, the functions are a lot cleaner and easier to use. And customizing your profile is a snap. In no time flat, here's the Yuwie page I set up for myself. Just take a look!

Better Than MySpace Or Facebook?

Simple answer: Yes. I definitely like the Yuwie features a lot more, and I find that they're also much easier to use. But beyond that, the main reason why I join social networking sites to begin with is to network with people and get more traffic to this blog.

I'm on both Myspace and Facebook - and I joined them mainly to generate additional traffic to my blog. But have they done a very good job of that? No, not at all. If they had, you can bet your boots I would've posted about it.

To give a comparison, my MySpace page brought 1 unique visitor to this blog so far today, whereas my Yuwie page has brought 5. Plus, my Yuwie page also generated several video views, from which I also earn money. So right now it looks like Yuwie is the better choice all around. Add to that the fact that Yuwie pays you for using it, and you have a total winner.

Overall Conclusion

Yuwie is gonna take off like a rocket. And from what I've seen so far, Yuwie is generating some good money each month for those who've already joined. So after all is said and done, my conclusion is simple: MySpace and Facebook are out, and Yuwie is in.

I mean, just check out all the action on my Yuwie page. The numbers definitely speak for themselves. And truth be told, I'm having a total blast with Yuwie. So don't wait on this one. Get in on all the Yuwie action now. It's be great to have you there as my Yuwie friend.


Related Blog Posts

Is Yuwie A Scam? - The Real Answer
This Just In - The Official Yuwie Press Release
Shareapic - Make Money With Your Pictures!
Make Money With Voxant News Feeds

September 18, 2007

Design Cool Badges For Your Blog With Web 2.0 Badges

Looking to make some cool badges for your blog? Then check out Web 2.0 Bagdes. This neat little badge generator lets you make Web 2.0 badges like a pro. It's very easy to use and offers a variety of badge styles to choose from.


Web 2.0 Badges is definitely a snap to use. Just pick the style you want, add your text, choose your colors and you're good to go! You can also change the angle and position of your text by entering numerical values in the x-coordinate, y-coordinate and angle fields.

And be sure to check out Fresh Badge as well. This Web 2.0 badge generator offers even more customization and is definitely top-notch. No software and prior design knowledge is needed. Just design your badge, download it, and put it on your blog!

September 16, 2007

Super Link Sunday - Batch #1

Super Link Sunday - Batch #1

So here's the very first edition of Super Link Sunday!

I decided to replace the 'ole Friday Night's Alright For Link Love! deal with this one...for several reasons. The most obvious one being that it's pretty hard to write quality posts every single Friday night...right before you go out!

Additionally, I think "Super Link Sunday" sounds a whole heck of a lot better anyway...don't you?! So let's get to it. Here are some of this week's most notable blog posts:

So stop in and tell these bloggers hello!

The Craziest Will It Blend? Spoof Ever!

This is absolutely hysterical! There have been several Will It Blend? spoofs made throughout the year, but this one is definitely a "cut" above the rest. Talk about a close call!

Btw, this one's for you Danielle...since you like the Will It Blend? videos so much! ;)



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September 14, 2007

Super Blogging - Win A Free Month Of Advertising!

Tay over at Super Blogging is currently running a contest to win a free month of advertising on her blog. So why not head on over there and check it out!

About Super Blogging's Contest

The winner's banner will be shown in the very top of the Super Blogging sidebar for a whole month. And since it'll be in the sidebar you'll also get a backlink from every page of her site. Sounds good to me! :)

How To Enter The Contest

Tay has made the Super Blogging contest really easy to enter. In fact, it's so easy to enter that even a caveman can do it! You can enter by:

1. Leaving a comment in the post - 1 credit
2. Subscribing to Tay's blog - 5 credits
3. Adding her blog to your sidebar or blogroll - 5 credits
4. Writing a unique post (not mixed in with any other posts or topics) that links to her blog’s homepage with the anchor text make money blogging - 10 credits
5. Linking to the contest with any anchor text - 3 credits


So head on over to Tay's blog and enter the contest. And be sure to spend some quality time there as well. She's got some great tips on blogging and how to make money blogging.

September 13, 2007

Will It Blend? - Magnets

I haven't posted a Will It Blend? video in quite a while, so here's one of Tom doing what he does best. And this time he's doing it with magnets. Neodymium magnets, to be exact.

Will they blend? Will they reverse the Earth's polarity? Well, I know one thing's for sure...they certainly set off some sparks!



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September 10, 2007

Easily Create Logos And Buttons For Your Blog

Create Logos & Buttons For Your Blog

Looking for an easy way to create logos and buttons for your blog? Then check out Cool Text. This free graphics generator allows you to design and create logos and buttons on the fly...for free.

Cool Text offers 31 different logo designs and 9 different button designs from which you can choose. Cool Text also offers over 1,200 text fonts that you can either download or use with the Cool Text generator.

Cool Text's Ease Of Use

Cool Text is definitely easy to use. To give you an idea of just how easy it is to use, here's a button I created while writing this post. It took me all of about 15 seconds to design and create.


Yes, using Cool Text is indeed quite simple. Just fill in your text, choose your colors, and you're all done! And for those of us who are a little more picky or particular, the Cool Text design tools also allow for additional design customizations, as seen below...


Overall Ratiocination

All in all, Cool Text is a pretty neat graphics generator - good for developing headers for blogs and web pages and any other online graphics. And best of all, it's totally free!

September 7, 2007

Make Money On Your Blog With The aLinks Plugin

Here's an easy way to make money on your blog without much active effort. It's the aLinks WordPress plugin and it's definitely worth a look.

The aLinks plugin takes the words and phrases you commonly use on your blog and turns them into links and affiliate links - automatically.


The aLinks plugin can create links for many popular affiliate programs and can be expanded to handle all of them. It allows you to use links in your posts instead of banner ads - that no one pays attention to anyway. Just post like you normally do and aLinks will find the keywords and keyphrases and turn them into links. No more having to copy and paste your affiliate codes and URLs.

The latest version of aLinks (Version 1.0rc1) offers these new features:

  • All new keyphrase module system allows for infinitely expandable support for all types of keyphrases.
  • Improved outbound click tracking, with more data and prettier graphs!
  • Import/Export your keyphrases and settings.
  • Built in help.
  • XML-RPC services.
Deeper Blog Keyphrases

If your traffic is anything like mine, then a good amount of it comes from Google and other search engine searches. And many times those people will read a post and just move on. They're not interested in blogs or in reading blogs regularly. They just want an answer to their queries.

But as a blogger, your goal should always be to bring people "deeper" into your blog. To show them that there's more valuable content for them. How do you do that? With the aLinks Deeper Blog module.

The Deeper Blog module will automatically create links in your post to other posts on your blog that have related content. For example, if you define the keyphrase "make money blogging" and use that phrase in a post, aLinks will automatically turn it into a link to your other blog posts that use the term "making money blogging".

As you can see, the aLilnks Deeper Blog module can really help you get more readers, more traffic, more page views and more clicks. And that means one thing...more money for you!

Steve Jobs Apologizes To iPhone Customers - Says iSorry!

The Apple iPhone iSorry

So what happens when you charge people $599 for the most advanced iPhone model, then unexpectedly slash the price by $200 in an effort to boost holiday sales? You have to say iSorry!

After receiving hundreds of email complaints, Apple CEO Steve Jobs wrote a letter acknowledging that they upset customers by cutting the price of the iPhone's 8-gigabyte model from $599 to $399, and apologized for disappointing them.

Apple also agreed to offer every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from Apple or AT&T, and who isn't receiving a rebate or any other consideration, a $100 store credit towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store.

While this may not be the perfect solution, at least it's something of considerable value. And it goes to show that if you're not happy with something it's worth taking the time to contact the company to let them know how you feel. Remember, the squeaky wheel always gets the grease!

September 5, 2007

Revver Displays An Erect Penis On Their Homepage?

An erect penis on the Revver home page? I need say nothing more. Here's the screenshot of the Revver home page as it appeared this morning at 7:27 AM...


Keep in mind that this is the home page - prior to logging in - so everyone sees it, including young kids. What the hell are they thinking?! Is it just me or does this seem a little bit off...a little irresponsible. What are your thoughts?

Then again, perhaps it's just a thermometer. :P

Update: I just got an email from Revver explaining what had happened:

Aaron,

Apologies for that. The front page programmer didn't have access to the thumbnail/poster image selector when he posted the video. The image has now been changed.

Regards,
Sean Boyd

September 4, 2007

The Birthday Meme - What Happened On September 4th?

Today IS my birthday...so what better day to do The Birthday Meme than on my birthday! I was tagged double tagged for this meme by both Danielle and Bucky.

The rules of the meme are simple:

1. Go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday (month and day).
2. Write down 3 events, 2 births, 1 holiday and tag 5 friends.
3. There are five slots in the Birthday Meme. As you are tagged, you have to remove the name in the first slot and bump everyone up so that your name can be added to the bottom.

So with no further ado, here are a few things that happened on my birthday...

Events That Occurred On September 4th

• 476 - Romulus Augustus, last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself King of Italy.
• 1888 - George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak, and receives a patent for his camera which uses roll film.
• 1956 - The IBM RAMAC 305, the first commercial computer that used magnetic disk storage, was introduced.

People Born On September 4th

• 1917 - Henry Ford II, American industrialist (died in 1987). Interestingly, September 4th is also the day on which the Ford Motor Company introduced the Edsel back in 1957 ("E Day"). The Edsel was named in honor of his father Edsel Ford.
• 1241 - Alexander III of Scotland, King of Scots (died in 1286).

A Holiday Celebrated On September 4th

• Roman festivals - start of the Ludi Romani a.k.a. Ludi Magni, until September 19th.

Bloggers who've completed this meme (minus one):
Janice | Mariuca | Mike| Bucky | Aaron

I'm tagging these awesome bloggers for The Birthday Meme:

Confessing7Girl
Mark Base
Bobby Revell
Bush Mackel
JesseTheCat

Birthday, Anniversary, Anniversary

Well, today is my birthday. Woo hoo! Thanks Valentin for the humorous birthday wishes. :) Aside from being my birthday, today is also the two-year anniversary of my quitting smoking. Yep, exactly two years ago to the day I quit, cold turkey...and I never looked back!

But on a sad note, today is also the one-year anniversary of Steve Irwin's untimely death. May we always remember the joy and energy his love of wildlife brought to so many. Few naturalists have had such a strong and wonderful impact on the world as he did. He is certainly missed.

Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter
February 22, 1962 - September 4, 2006

According to BBC News, Irwin's widow Terri and their two children, Bindi and Bob, will spend the first anniversary of his death in private. The family plans to celebrate his life and achievements on "Steve Irwin Day", which will be held on November 15th.

September 2, 2007

Miss South Carolina Teen USA Tries To Make Sense

In case you haven't seen it yet...

Miss South Caroline Teen USA
What The Heck Did She Just Say?!

Miss South Carolina Teen USA Lauren Caitlin Upton: "I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because uhh, some people out there in our nation don't have maps and uhh I believe that our education like such as South Africa and uhh, the Iraq everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should uhh, our education over HERE in the U.S. should help the U.S. er er should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for our children."

Truth is, all have our moments! In any case, I was able to locate the U.S. on a map, thanks to my trusty world atlass atlas...